THE PATH 

! % l * 

TO 

CONSERVATIVE TRIUMPH. 

THE SUCCESSFUL POLICY. 

THE NECESSITY FOR 

NEW MEASURES AND NEW MEN. 

THE STRENGTH AND CLAIMS OF CANDIDATES; 

A NEW ONE RECOMMENDED; 

HIS ANTECEDENTS, ABILITY, SERVICES, 
CHARACTER AND AVAILIBILTY 
CONSIDERED. 


NEW YORK: 

PRINTED BYT AUTHORITY. 
1868 . 











V 




At a meeting of prominent Democratic Citizens and 
Soldiers, held at the Metropolitan Hotel, in the City 
of New York, on the 11th day of February, 1868 ; for 

THE PURPOSE OF ADOPTING MEASURES TO PROMOTE THE EFFEC¬ 
TUAL UNION AND CO-OPERATION OF ALL CONSERVATIVE CITI¬ 
ZENS, IN PEACEABLY RESISTING THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND 
REVOLUTIONARY ENCROACHMENTS OF RADICALISM, AND SECU¬ 
RING THE SPEEDY TRIUMPH OF THOSE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH 

our Government is founded, and upon the vindication 


AND SUCCESSFUL ASSERTION OF WHICH ITS PERPETUITY DE¬ 
PENDS, THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS TO THE DELEGATES TO THE 

Democratic National Convention and the People at 

LARGE WAS UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED AND ORDERED PUBLISHED 

% 

IN PAMPHLET FORM. 


COL. MONTGOMERY DAVIS, 


Chairman. 
P. DUFFEY, 


New York City, Feb. lltli, 1868 . 


Secretary. 









THE PATH TO 


CONSERVATIVE TRIUMPH. 


Fellow Citizens : 

No argument is necessary to demonstrate the appalling truth 
that this once glorious Union of majestic sister States, in the 
attempt to preserve and perpetuate which almost every lintel has 
been stained with fraternal blood, and the homes of a nation 
made (Jesolate forever, reels and totters upon the crumbling brink 
of that awful precipice, over which traitorous, ambitious, and 
murderous hands have, age after age, thrust so many fair Re¬ 
publics, into the unfathomable abyss of anarchy, disunion, and 
despotism, below, where lie entombed, beyond the vision of pro¬ 
phecy itself, and the reach of resurrection’s hand, the last hopes 
of down-trodden man. The imminence- of our danger is made 
fearfully palpable in the divided, agitated, unhappy and alarm¬ 
ing condition of the country; perpetuating and inflaming sec¬ 
tional prejudices and animosities, prostrating commerce, ruining 
public and private credit, strengthening capital, oppressing labor, 
encouraging vice, increasing taxation, and* threatening to give 
the final blow to the grandest and perhaps the last experiment 
at free government, by destroying the confidence of the people in 
their ability to govern themselves. 

The spectacle we present of legislative tyranny and madness, 
and of official corruption and imbecility, has no parallel in 
history. 

To the rebellion of the law-breaker has succeeded that of the 
law-maker, and the Union and the Constitution, protected against 
the sword, are in danger of destruction by the Senate. Legisla¬ 
tion, which contended against oligarchy, now seeks to establish 
military dictatorship, and the Radicals of the South, who assassi¬ 
nated one President, are succeeded by the Radicals of the North 




4 


who would strip the constitutional prerogatives from another.—- 
The sanguinary struggle to keep States in the Union has resolved 
itself into as determined an effort to keep them out; the restora- 
* tion of peace is declared, and the rule of the bayonet extended ; 
the descendants of those who rebelled against taxation without 
representation, are now Tories in its defense; the representatives 
of States discarding impartial suffrage, force it upon others hav¬ 
ing no voice in their councils ; and to the most ignorant and de¬ 
graded hands, as the safest to receive the trust, is confided the 
work of framing anew the internal government of eight millions 
of people. 

It is by the adoption of such a course as this the Radicals have 
proclaimed that the Union can alone be restored, upon a perma¬ 
nent and prosperous basis, and as they have had the sole man¬ 
agement and control of the government, they alone are responsi¬ 
ble for the result. Their touch has polluted the legitimate fruits 
of all our sacrifice of life and treasure, and turned it into ashy 
apples of discord, with which their unhappy subjects, the people, 
are told to assuage their ma'ddening thirst for union, prosperity 
and peace. We asked for meat and they have given us scorpions ; 
we cried unto them for bread and they have given us stones. 

Their aims, especially as more recently demonstrated by the 
unconstitutional and revolutionary acts of their Congressional 
leaders, force the conclusion that if our country and her free in¬ 
stitutions are to be peaceably rescued from the parricidal clutch of 
those who, in her name, trample alike upon the executive and 
the ermine, it can only be accomplished through the speedy 
triumph of conservative principles at the ballot box ; by the 
voice of the people, declaring in thunder tones to the Catalines 
of the Senate, and the Dantons of the House, that, guarded by 
the segis of a democratic constitution, the Republic shall live; 
and that they who dare to attempt, in her destruction, the per¬ 
petuation or perversion of the temporary power confided to their 
hands, shall surely die. 

There are indeed the gravest reasons for assuming that the 
vindication of conservatism in this manner will alone prevent 
the re-inauguration of civil war, with all its unutterable horrors, 
and the exercise of the right of franchise becomes, therefore, a 




5 


solemn responsibility, and the patriotic, non-partisan, honest, 
unselfish, and earnest consideration of the means to secure this 
bloodless and yet priceless victory, a weighty duty, upon the 
loyal and intelligent performance of which the preservation of 
our liberties depends. 

It is self-evident that in order to peaceably defeat the riotous 
Radical cabal, at Washington, and its band of office-holding 
minions, which find name and shelter in the mis-called Republi¬ 
can party, one of three agents must be employed—the other reg¬ 
ular party organization; an entirely new party of the people, or 
a party, harmoniously uniting the Democracy and Conservative 
Republicans upon a common platform. Unquestionably the lat¬ 
ter would combine the strength of the two former, and its expe¬ 
diency is beyond doubt, but as its construction would engender 
bitter opposition from some extremely radical Democrats, and 
politicians having personal ends to subserve, and meet with an 
obstacle in the proverbial pride and uncompromising partv 
spirit of the Democracy, it is perhaps necessary to go a step fur¬ 
ther and demonstrate, from incontrovertible facts, the paramount 
necessity of employing every element of conservative strength, 
in order to successfully cope with a party formidable in the pos¬ 
session of official power, strong in the prestige of a successful 
and popular military leader, and entrenched in the fastnesses of 
the Treasury. 

We must not permit ourselves through egotism, sentiments of 
false pride, the syren song of demagogues, the rash counsels of 
zealots, or even the inspiring consciousness of being in the right, 
to be blinded to the oft recorded truth that the Democratic 
party is not numerically strong enough to wrest the government 
from the desperate grasp of radical Republicanism. This ad¬ 
mission is not gratifying, but we have fallen upon times that 
admit of neither flattery nor subterfuge, and a knowledge of our 
true condition is the first great step toward its improvement.— 
Ambitious office-seekers and those who, judging from the mere 
surface of events, are misled by the fallacious results of the late 
elections may scout this wholesome confession of weakness, but 
if the Democratic leaders are not wise and conciliatory, its ex¬ 
istence will be proved in the overthrow of the party at the polls 
next Fall. 






We have characterized the results of the late elections as fal¬ 
lacious, and we now go even further and declare our well found¬ 
ed fears that they were dangerous triumphs, which may conceal 
the germ of future defeat. They were greeted and wildly exul¬ 
ted over as unqualified Democratic victories, and all this was 
well enough for the purpose inspiriting the rank and file, but it 
should not be permitted to warp the cooler judgment of the lea¬ 
ders, upon whose action the fate of the party in reality depends. 
The fact is that to the people, as distinguished from party, fully 
as much as to the Democratic party, is due the credit of those 
victories. They accepted the Democratic nominees simply as 
mediums through which to condemn a specific measure, which 
they regarded as unnecessarily radical—negro suffrage—and not 
because they were Democrats. Tens of thousands who voted 
with the Democracy on this issue, had, and to-day have no re¬ 
gard for many of the old principles of the party, and positively 
abominate all of its ultra exponents, and, rather than accept 
either on compulsion, would again array themselves under their 
former Radical leaders—certainly under Grant—and contribute 
as effectively to the defeat as they did to the success of their new 
found friends. The balance of power rests with them to-day, 
and they know it, and therefore their views must, in some meas¬ 
ure, be consulted, in order to insure the triumph of progressive 
conservatism ; the only kind of conservatism the spirit of the 
age and the genius of our institutions admits of. 

The Democratic party it is true, cannot, with either honor or 
safety, sacrifice to success any of the fundamental principles un¬ 
derlying the Constitution and indispensable to the safety and wel¬ 
fare of the Republic. In such a triumph it would defeat itself, 
and prostitute its high mission to the base uses of ephemeral and 
sordid gain. None but a traitor to his party and an enemy to 
his country would advocate such a step. But on the other hand 
neither can it afford—as it now seems inclined—to assert party 
infallability and prerogative, to the stubborn extent of planting 
itself upon a platform, too narrow to accommodate its would be 
friends, and to imperiously demand that all men shall swear 
fealty to the most radical or fossilized Democrats whose names 
may be inscribed upon its banners, and unconditionally accept 





7 


their records and approve of their most offensive dogmas.— 
Policy should always be made the ally of principle when it can 
be honorably employed to advance the right or punish the wrong, 
and as upon the vindication and establishment of liberal Demo¬ 
cratic principles depends the preservation of that perfect Union 
bequeathed to us by our fathers, in trust, for the benefit of the 
oppressed of all lands, and without the exercise of patriotic con¬ 
cession, forbearance and political conciliation, those principles 
and that Union will be overthrown, the conclusion irresistibly 
follows, that if the Democracy refuses to exercise such policy 
and fanatically persists in clinging to dead, unpractical and ob¬ 
noxious issues, by presenting candidates who are the very embod¬ 
iment of such issues, it willfully assumes the responsibility of 
courting and precipitating the ruin, it is its mission and in its 
power alone to prevent, and will stand condemned before the 
world, through its suicidal folly, as equally guilty with the 
dominant disciples of radicalism, in whose continued rule our 
swift destruction is apparent. 

The truth of the Latin proverb, that u Times change and we 
are changed with them,” was never more forcibly exemplified 
than in the present condition of politics—a condition as anoma¬ 
lous as unforseen, and demanding the adoption of new measures 
AND OF NEW MEN. 

i 

Parties must accommodate themselves to the spirit and exi¬ 
gencies of the times, and it is their province to control and direct 
events for the benefit of the whole country. Their platforms 
and nominations are only to be considered with a view to this 
end, and whenever they are found to conflict with it, patriotism 
and common sense alike dictate that they must either be aban¬ 
doned or modified to correspond with the demands of the occa¬ 
sion. We are now called upon to face such an emergency, and 
to meet it the old battle-cry of “ Principles not men,” must be 
changed to “ Principles and men” if the Democratic party hopes 
to ever dethrone the power-besotted partisans, who have trans¬ 
formed the Halls of Legislation from the sanctuary of Liberty 
into a Star Chamber; and to instate loyal, honest, and able rep¬ 
resentatives of the people in their stead. 








8 


Similar momentous obligations—such a glorious opportunity 
to deserve the blessings and gratitude of a great people; to de¬ 
monstrate to the Old World despots, gloating over our difficul¬ 
ties and prophesying our downfall, that a Republic may be invin¬ 
cible and indestructible in the patriotism, the wisdom, the self- 
devotion and the love of its citizens; to retrieve defeat and to 
so deservedly attain sovereign power—never devolved upon or 
were vouchsafed to any political organization. Will the Demo¬ 
cratic party prove itself equal to the occasion, deserving of the 
confidence of the people, and worthy of its name? Will it build 
its temple or dig its grave? 

The mere enunciation of sound Democratic doctrines will not 
suffice to gain for us the day in the decisive and rapidly approach¬ 
ing struggle between right and might. The history of every 
nation, and especially of those which have attempted self gov¬ 
ernment, furnishes mournful evidence, oft repeated through suc¬ 
cessive centuries, that the fate of political tenets is seldom com¬ 
mensurate with their merit, and Democratic principles have, 
during the past few years, been so frequently subjected to the 
application of this well-nigh general rule, that their ability un¬ 
aided to vindicate themselves and at the same time sustain their 
professors, may well be questioned. They must be made success¬ 
ful, and this can only be accomplished by selecting as their chief 
exponents men strong with the whole people; possessing power, 
popularity, reputation, respect, and unquestioned confidence 
outside of party lines. It is useless to deny that not a solitary 
one of the prominent Democratic politicians whose names have 
been suggested in connection with the Presidency, is of this class. 
A vast majority of the people, including very many Democrats, 
believe that most of them countenanced if they did not encour¬ 
age secession, and that having been false to the Union once, its 
destinies can never, with safety, be entrusted to their keeping.— 
The men who pronounced the war a failure were themselves 
made failures by its success, and to expect that they can influence 
votes where they do not command confidence is simply an ab¬ 
surdity. It may be their misfortune that their merit is not 
appreciated by the people, but as such is the fact, to evidence our 
sympathies to the extent of nominating them, would certainly 



9 


rain our chances without tending to redress their individual 
wrongs. It would force upon the non-partisan conservative voters 
the alternative of seeking representatives elsewhere, and that in 
suet a contingency they would accept Grant is a probability the 
Radical leaders have craftily considered. The floating vote, and 
that of the large class of, so to speak, middle men opposed to 
either extreme,|upon the securing of which the" success of the 
Democratic party depends, cannot be reached by the nomination 
of any exponent of ultra Democratic doctrines. There is 
nothing to be gained by offering them a Roland for an Oliver— 
they would just as soon suffer the latter as accept the former. 

As this question of nominations is a vital one of votes and not 
preferences, it must be candidly considered in all its bearings, 
and if, weighed in the balance against truth and sound policy, 
the claims of politicians and office-seekers kick the beam, they 
have none but themselves to blame for the public exposure of their 
unfitness, which their unbridled ambition renders a necessity.— 
Thus weighed, and measured by the standard of results, the pro¬ 
spective nominees under consideration are found to have ever 
been the weakness and curse of the Democratic party, and it re¬ 
quires little prescience to detect in their management its contin¬ 
ued discomfiture. Not representing—in fact misrepresenting 
the unswerving loyalty, and the real opinions and purposes of 
Democracy, it seems almost incredible that they should have been 
so long permitted to monopolize its highest honors, and to shape 
its destinies. And judging from the past, what have we to hope 
from their leadership in the future? Can it be denied that in 
their names we have met with an uninterrupted series of both 
National and State reverses that would have broken up and de¬ 
stroyed any other party, and the demoralizing effects of which 
are everywhere apparent in our ranks ? Do continued defeats 
guarantee future triumphs or justify friends and admirers of these 
gentlemen in demanding for them a life lease of leadership ? Is 
it to be wondered at that the people murmur, and are beginning 
to cry “Are we indeed so poor in representative talent that we 
must go on forever voting for the same stock politicians ”—that 
they are at a loss to understand what signal services these men 
have rendered the party that it should reward them to the exclu- 


10 


sion of all others ? They have been repeatedly tried and found 
wanting—their names have become hackneyed through constant 
use—their prestige destroyed by defeat—combined together they 
cannot rally a corporal’s guard outside of their party, and they 
have come to be regarded as Old Men of the Sea, whose stifling 
burden cannot be foreVer patiently borne upon the shoulders of 
young Democracy. 

And let It be distinctly understood that we have not criticised 
these gentlemen from a personal or a prejudiced stand-point, but 
with an eye-single to the interests of our country, and with refer¬ 
ence to their relations to the Democratic and Conservative masses, 
and to their influence, for good or evil, upon the prospects of the 
party of Constitutional Government. The time has come when 
some one of the people, must speak the truth to the people, for 
the salvation of the people. Charity, which would fain conceal 
these ugly facts and veil with silence individual faults, must 
stand aside at the imperious command of self preservation. 
Were we lenient to the few we should be unfaithful to the many ; 
and yet while we cannot conscientiously extenuate, God forbid that 
we should set down aught in malice! It is our painful duty to 
deal with facts as we find them, and no exaggeration of the real¬ 
ity could point the lesson taught by the bare record, that super¬ 
annuated leaders ; unfortunate statesmen, often tried and always 
found wanting; violent partsians, inextricably identified with 
the worst faults and failures loud mouthed demogogues ; pes¬ 
tiferous martyrs ; political paupers ; party vampires, despised 
and distrusted by the people ; kid gloved patriots, ever ready to 
run, but never ready to work ; official drones ; the puppets of 
the wire pullers ; the pets of past conventions; the creatures 
of accident; the misrepresenters ; the fossils, tools, and fools must 
give place to leaders of unquestioned loyalty and liberal views ; 
to men fresh from the people and strong in their love and confi¬ 
dence ; with unexceptionable public records ; untrammeled by 
past political associations, obligations and pledges ; identified 
with the interests of labor ; to able, honest, practical and cour¬ 
ageous men, with the sagacity to comprehend the situation and 
the determination and strength to master it. To the support of 
a ticket fortified with the extraneous strength such men would 


11 


bring to it, the conservative millions would rally as one man ; 
while, without it, it must go to the wall, before the united official, 
moneyed, and military power of radicalism. 

Besides the cogent reasons already advanced in favor of this 
new man policy, history which repeats itself and will assuredly 
again do so in the ensuing campaign, furnishes an additional ar¬ 
gument in the presidential elections of the past twenty years, at 
once so pertinent and conclusive, that we desire to call special 
attention to the following brief summary of their results, and the 
principal influence by which they were determined. 

In 1848 Genl. Cass, a life long Democrat, a successful warrior, 
an able statesman, and for many years a leader and the most pop¬ 
ular politican of his party was defeated by a Whig opponent of 
very ordinary ability, in the person of General Taylor, who re¬ 
ceived a majority of 36 electoral votes. The popularity acquir¬ 
ed by General Taylor as a military commander in the war with 
Mexico it may be said rendered him an available man, but of 
itself would not have made him a successful candidate. He was 
a new man, who having spent nearly the whole period of his man¬ 
hood in the army, and having never, as was said, cast a vote at an 
election, was not of course regarded as an offensive party politic¬ 
ian, and in reply to numerous interrogatories he uniformly refus¬ 
ed to declare himself a partisan ; asserting that, if elected, he 
would be the President of the nation, and not of a party. And 
on these grounds the nation rejected the politician and accepted 
him. As opposed to General Cass either Mr. Clay or Mr. Web¬ 
ster would, in all probability, have been beaten, and the Whig 
leaders were astute enough to recognize the fact, and to avail 
themselves of the attractivness and power of a new and non-par¬ 
tisan name. 

In 1852 the Whigs, although in power, again tried the exper¬ 
iment which had before proved so successful, and nominated Gen. 
Scott. But Scott although a new man was a very weak and silly 
one, and by his driveling speeches and the indulgence of his pro¬ 
pensity to gabble with his pen he defeated himself. 

The platform advanced by the Republicans in 1856 was so sec¬ 
tional and aggressive in its character, that the South of course, 
and five of the Northern States, voted solid against it, and yet 


12 


Col. Fremont, another new man, without a political record, re¬ 
ceived one hundred and eleven electoral votes, and with anything 
like a fair national position would certainly have defeated Mr. 
Buchanan, with his political antecedents of nearly half a century’s 
scope. 

In 1860, the Republicans, wisely disregarding the warmly-pressed 
claims of notorious leaders, to the surprise of the whole coun¬ 
try brought out Abraham Lincoln, and with him overwhelming¬ 
ly defeated, even in his own State, the most popular politician 
the Democratic party ever had. Mr. Lincoln was in every es¬ 
sential sense of the word a new man, and emphatically a man of 
the people. He had been a flat-boatman, a rail-splitter, and he 
was hailed with irrepressible enthusiasm by the people, and par¬ 
ticularly the laboring classes, as their representative. His nom¬ 
ination was regarded, as it was intended it should be, as a con¬ 
cession to them, and in their gratitude for such an unlooked-for 
recognition of their rights by a convention, which it was sup¬ 
posed like most others was called in the interests of politicians 
alone, they saw only the man as one of themselves, and sustained 
him accordingly. As we shall have occasion to show hereafter 
Mr. Douglas refused to appeal to the people, and in return they 
ignored both him and his principles. 

In 1864 the Democratic party, in its turn, nominated as their 
chief standard-bearer an entirely new man, with absolutely no 
political record whatever. And no one of either party whose 
opinion is entitled to a moment’s consideration pretends now to 
deny that if General George B. McClellan had not been 
associated with a notorious peace apostle, and crushed beneath a 
platform purposly framed by Vallandigham and his peace disci¬ 
ples so as to admit of a false construction, in accordance with 
their offensive and ruinious heresies, and infamously subjecting his 
loyalty and that of the whole Democratic party to general sus¬ 
picion—the rebels of the North, despite the fanatic zeal of 
their dupes, and their control of the tens of thousands of corrupt 
military and official minions and the tens of millions of money 
the prosecution of a great war placed at their beck, and in their 
larcenous hands, would in him have found their Antietam too, 
and civil war have been brought to a speedier and less bloody 


13 


conclusion, and perfect union and peace restored to a land from 
which it would now seem they have forever flown. 

The radicals with all their madness and folly are not so blind 
as to ignore the reiterated lesson the past thus plainly teaches, 
as is evidenced in their determination to nominate General 
Grant, and yet there are professed Democrats of prominence and 
influence, either such knaves or fools—perhaps both—as to coun¬ 
sel us not only to utterly disregard it, but to go even further 
and re-enact the Chicago blunder by nominating men of the class 
the people emphatically repudiated then, and would actually 
stamp out if again thrust upon them. Why, such disaster-mark¬ 
ed candidates with such ruin-breeding-backing, would be but 
bushwackers in the hands of their reticent opponent ! 

The over-sanguine, and the chameleon-like many, who feed 
on airy assertions, and take their color from every passing 
rumor, may not regard Grant as very formidable, and are easily 
lulled into sweet dreams of battles won, by the everyday repeti¬ 
tion through their special organs of assurances of his growing 
weakness and diminishing chances; but those in the least quali¬ 
fied to select a champion of constitutional, state, and individual 
rights, recognize in him a dangerously available tool and cloak 
for the advancement and concealment of the Radical schemes of 
treason, stratagem and spoil. 

The most certain way to anticipate defeat is to under-rate the 
strength of our adversary. By so doing we disarm that eternal 
vigilance, the great Henry so truly declared to be the price of 
liberty ; relax our energies, and close our eyes to the paramount 
necessity of rigidly organizing and disciplining our forces, and 
recruiting our ranks. It is best then to admit without equivo¬ 
cation or reserve, that Grant is not only an adversary not to be 
easily disposed of, under any circumstances, but that any Presi¬ 
dential nominee backed by this great party in power, marshaled 
as it is by desperate and fearless demagogues and able to almost 
unlimitedly supply itself with the corrupting sinews of political 
warfare, from both the public treasury and the well filled pockets 
of an army of well paid and better stealing officials, stands on 
vantage ground from which the Old Guard of Democracy, un¬ 
aided, cannot dislodge him. 


14 


Democracy has much, but not everything, to hope from the 
purity of its faith and the righteousness of its cause. “ Vox pop- 
uli , vox Dei ” is high sounding, classic flattery, very acceptable 
to an American citizen, but like all flattery often as false as un¬ 
deserved. The voice of the people is not always the voice of 
God, and in the near future, as in the past, they may—nay 
more, they will be dazzled by the glitter of undue martial fame, 
betrayed by evil counsels, specious promises, treacherous conces¬ 
sions, lip patriotism, cajolery, bribery,corruption, perjury and lies, 
and allured by the jack-o-lantern lights, incarnate treason shows, 
still further, and beyond all hope of extrication, into the treach¬ 
erous slough in which they are now darkly wallowing on to 
direst ruin, unless the Democratic party true to itself and to 
them; true to its best interests and to theirs; true to its duty and 
its mission ; true to liberty and progress ; true to the country 
and its cause ; equal to the grand emergency; mindful of the 
past, and regardful of the future, nominates, as the living em¬ 
bodiment of its ideas, an able, honest, brave, and practical man, 
of and from the people; one with them in origin and purpose; 
the recognized champion of labor, the friend of the soldier, the 
benefactor of the poor and the idol of the masses. 

Where, then, is such a man to be found? 

The stern logic of facts answers this imperatively necessary 
interrogatory, made in the name of the Union and for the sal¬ 
vation of the party of the Union, by pointing to Col. Dan Rice, 
of Pennsylvania, as a man singularly free, for one of such prom¬ 
inence and influence, from the fatal objections attaching to the 
candidates whose claims and strength we have briefly and im¬ 
partially considered, and possessing, in an eminent degree, the 
attributes and resources requisite to success. 

Those to whose aspirations his nomination would be a death 
blow, and the uncharitable and suspicious many ever ready to 
destroy the beauty of a good action by attributing a bad motive 
to it, cannot say that he is a candidate of our making. Had 
we aught to gain by recommending ourselves to him as his first 
supporters, the people, with that unerring intuition they often 
display, have forestalled us, and, as is universally known, a 
powerful and rapidly increasing organization, comprising con- 


15 

t 

servative men of all classes, in all sections; able journals; 
influential public and private citizens ; labor associations ; leaders 
of great movements intended to strike home blows at trans¬ 
atlantic tyranny; and thousands of those comprising the bone 
and sinew of the land have already placed him in nomination, as 
a People’s candidate, and even though it fails to elect him, may 
yet attain sufficient strength to hold the balance of power in as 
closely contested an election as we are sure to have. We expect 
nothing, ask nothing, and would accept nothing from either Col. 
Rice or his friends. Indeed, we have more reason to dread the 
enmity of those we are compelled to condemn, than to antici¬ 
pate favors from him, and look only for our reward in the con¬ 
sciousness of having earnestly and honestly striven to perform 
our duty toward our fellow citizens. 

Nothing is clearer to our minds than that availability as well 
as intrinsic merit must be considered in the selection of candi¬ 
dates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, and we therefore 
earnestly beseech the Democratic National Convention to care¬ 
fully compare Col. Rice’s claims to both, with those of the other 
distinguished gentlemen whose names may be brought before it, 
and beg leave to submit, for the consideratien of its appointed 
and prospective members, such evidence in his favor as we are 
enabled to gather from our acquaintance with his character and 
public and private career. 

The grandson of a gallant Colonel, who was the friend and 
companion of Washington, and laid down the Bible to take up 
the sword in defense of those principles for which we are now 
contending; and the son of one of the few surviving heroes of 
the war of 1812; patriotism, and love for the soldier defenders 
of the flag are inherent in his nature, and have found expression 
not only in contributions to the Union cause exceeding those of 
any other citizen ; in the erection of the only private cenotaph 
to the memory of those “ who have fallen in defense of their 
country,” but, above and beyond all this, in generous acts of 
secret charity toward the bereaved and destitute families of those 
who died that the Union might live, which have driven the wolf 
from many a dead or disabled soldier’s door, and made his name 
everywhere blessed in humble homes, desolated by the sad fatal¬ 
ity of war. 


Col. Rice comes of the race of the upright, courageous, and 
strong armed men, who laid deep the foundations of the govern- 
mentj and like the most of them he is a self-made man, whose 
virtues have been disciplined in the severe school of adversity. 
He has not learned the lesson of life from visionary theorists, 
but from the great, open book of the world itself. His well- 
nigh infallible knowledge of human nature—an indispensable 
attribute of the genius to govern wisely—has been strengthened 
and schooled by extensive travel, and association with the masses, 
and he possesses this signal advatage over all the public men of 
the day; that having for nearly thirty years visited every sec¬ 
tion, and almost every village of the country, coming into imme¬ 
diate contact with both audiences and individuals, thoroughly 
acquainted with sectional requirements and prejudices ; perfectly 
comprehending the character and temper of the people of every 
community, and everywhere at home, he is exceptionally and 
entirely free from local prejudices and interests, and consequently 
capable of impartially determining great national questions 
from a national standpoint. 

We have the most illustrious and satisfactory precedent for 
conceding his judgment and ability, in the fact that the great 
commoner of Democracy, Stephen A. Douglas, not only made 
him his confidant and counsellor, but also declared that had he 
followed his wis^ and practical suggestions, and trusted, as he 
ought to have done, to his unerring knowledge of the people, he 
might have been President. The following incident fully cor¬ 
roborates this, as well as our previous statement that the people 
ignored the claims of Mr. Douglas because he refused to appeal 
to them. 

Previous to the meeting of the Democratic National Conven¬ 
tion, at Charleston, S. C., in 1860, Mr. Douglas visited the city 
of Philadelphia, for the purpose of meeting and consulting with 
his friends, among whom John W. Forney, then also a warm 
friend and admirer of Col. Rice, was the most prominent. 

The night after Horace Greeley| and^a Committee from New 
York City, visited Judge Douglas,|for the purpose of inducing 
him to take a position that would justify the Republican party in 
accepting him as their candidate for the Presidency, the Judge, 


17 


by a special messenger, requested a private interview with Col. 
Rice, that he might have the benefit of his advice, in the crisis 
of his political fate he felt was upon him. They subsequently 
met, at the Girard House, in the Judge’s room, and in the pres¬ 
ence of John W. Forney only, and there, despite the remonstran¬ 
ces and warning of Col. Rice, Judge Douglas sealed his own 
fate. 

“If it can possibly be prevented,” said Col. Rice, “I never 
would permit my name to go before the Charleston Connvention. 
I know the true state of feeling at the South, and have, through 
conversations, been made acquainted with the extreme views en¬ 
tertained by the delegates, and I know that they are opposed to 
you, and will defeat you at all hazards. You can be made 
President of the United States if you will put yourself in the 
hands of the people, who are your friends and would certainly 
elect you as an independent candidate.” 

Mr. Forney, addressing Judge Douglas with much earnestness, 
said : “ This is the soundest advice that could possibly be given , and 
I advise you to adopt it and to shape your course accordingly.” 
Douglas replied, “ Gentlemen, I thank you. I know that you 
are my friends and counsel with pure and patriotic motives; but 
my banner is up and the people must come to it! ” 

Further argument failed to influence his determination, but he 
lived to realize the wisdom of Col. Rice’s arguments, and sub¬ 
sequently at Indianapolis acknowledged to him that he was right, 
and* expressed the hope that as he knew the people so well he 
would give President Lincoln the benefit of his advice. 

Since those memorable days Mr. Forney has “bent the preg¬ 
nant hinges of the knee” before men of very different opinions 
from those entertained by Mr. Douglas, that “ thrift might follow 
fawning; ” but Col. Rice, to his lasting honor be it recorded, 
remains the same true patriot, the same steadfast friend of the 
people; unshaken in his devotion to principle and his sense of 
duty to his country by temptations, few are noble, and honest, and 
brave enough to resist. 

This bit of political history, we have deemed it expedient to 
thus briefly reproduce, may surprise many accustomed to regard 
Col. Rice only as an eminently successful wit and humorist, and 


18 


not aware of the influence he has quietly wielded in the highest 
government circles, and of the deference with which his opinions 
are received; but it has long been laid before the public without 
denial, and we have no doubt that Mr. Forney, if questioned on 
the subject, will vouch for its literal truth. 

To all conservative Republicans Col. Rice comes strongly * 
recommended, in the fact that President Lincoln sought and placed 
great confidence in the advice Mr. Douglas was patriotic and un¬ 
selfish enough to solicit for his successful opponent. Up to the 
hour of his murder, the relations existing between Mr. Lincoln 
and this other man of the people were, notwithstanding the dif¬ 
ference of their opinions on many points, of the most cordial and 
confidential character; and if the association was highly honora¬ 
ble to the one, it was equally valuable to the other, as indeed the 
President took frequent occasion to signify in his correspondence 
with Col. Rice, warmly thanking him for his distinguished, pa¬ 
triotic and disinterested services. At the time when it was deemed 
necessary to strictly guard the White House, he passed unchal¬ 
lenged at all hours of the night; to him was confided all the 
known or suspected plans and purposes of the rebels; and in his 
honor, courage and vigilance the President sought protection for 
his life. 

And in Mr. Johnson we have yet another Presidential witness 
to his worth; it being well known, especially at Washington, that 
he pays much attention to Col. Rice’s views, has frequently 
called upon him for information, and consulted him with refer¬ 
ence to the propriety of important appointments. 

Had the leaders of the people possessed his statesmanlike 
prescience, secession might have been either prevented, or else we 
should have been prepared to meet it. Before it was even whis¬ 
pered he foresaw it; and in its very home, to the ruin of his 
business and the danger of his life; with a self-sacrificing devo¬ 
tion entitling him to the admiration and love of his countrymen, 
he was the first to raise his voice in eloquent protest against its 
madness, wickedness and folly, and to counsel moderation and 
observance of the Constitution and the laws. Even after it be¬ 
came an accomplished fact he battled against it, and his loyal 
fearlessness absolutely cowed the murderous mob thirsting for 


19 


his blood, and wrung from the rebel press the involuntary com* 
pliment that “ no other man could have so braved the Southern 
tornado and spoken so much in favor of the perpetuity of the 
Union, at a time when we were running over with Secession.” 

His last effort to defend his country and protect its starry en¬ 
sign from traitorous insult was an act of sublimest heroism. The 
theatre at New Orleans was the scene, and the waving of the 
“ Star Spangled Banner ” by a performer, to the same glorious 
air by the orchestra, the occasion. The first appearance of the 
flag and the first few bars of the music elicited a loud hiss from a 
ruffianly giant who sat in the parquette, and had probably been 
placed there for that purpose. The sibilant insult was taken up 
until it swelled into a seemingly universal chorus. Col. Rice 
was in front as a spectator, and as the serpent storm increased he 
dashed through the dense audience, sprang upon the stage, grasp¬ 
ed the flag, and faced the excited crowd like a lion. 

It was the night of the passage of the Ordinance of Secession, 
the Union minority was crushed into silence by the fury and 
madness of the hour, and he stood alone, facing both treason and 
death. A score of revolvers were leveled at him, but the war¬ 
like blood of his race was aflame, his dauntless moral courage all 
aroused, and without flinching so much as a hair, he turned to 
the individual who had commenced the uproar, and in a voice of 
thunder exclaimed: “I remember once standing upon a wharf in 
Liverpool as a gallant vessel, gracefully bending before a favor¬ 
ing breeze, approached her haven with that proud flag waving 
on high. I was a stranger in a strange land, and yet I felt safe 
while under its protecting folds. And you, Sir! ” shaking his 
clenched hand at the individual, “ had I been within striking 
distance when you hissed that flag, I would have felled you to 
the earth, as you Sir would, had you stood by my side in Liver¬ 
pool, have knocked down any man who would treat the emblem 
of our country’s glory with similar indignity !” He was greeted 
with a universal cheer of admiration, and marched unmolested 
from the stage, with the banner and to its tune. 

The man who thus quelled treason at the South is the one to 
abash and crush it at the North. It requires physical and moral 
courage, joined with capacity, to deal with revolutionists in the 


20 


Capitol, as well as with rebels in the field. The genius of a Cice¬ 
ro would not compensate for the lack of that dauntless spirit, 
firm purpose and high resolve which must animate the soul of 
him capable of keeping Jackson’s solemn oath. 

No man in America possesses the personal popularity of Dast 
Rice with the masses of the people, and that it is not a mere sen¬ 
sational or ephemeral popularity, but well founded, permanent 
and deserved, is proved, beyond question, by the significant fact 
that where he is best known he is most respected. His neighbors 
and fellow-citizens of Western Pennsylvania, whose prosperity 
has been enhanced by his public-spirited enterprise and intelli¬ 
gent advice, and who have come to well and thoroughly know 
him, and to form their estimate of his character and ability by so¬ 
cial contact in the private walks of life, have, repeatedly and un¬ 
solicited, pressed important offices upon him. 

In 1864 the Democrats and soldiers nominated him for the 
State Senate. He was in the West at the time, and knew noth¬ 
ing about the compliment paid him until advised by letter. His 
reply was that his business engagements would not admit of his 
undertaking the labors of a political campaign, and that if the 
Democratic party and his soldier friends insisted upon running 
him, they must do so on their own responsibility. He was absent 
during the entire canvass, and did not make a single effort to 
secure an election, and yet, in one of the ultra radical strongholds 
of the State, he ran 2,200 votes ahead of his ticket. This was 
rightly regarded by his friends as a popular triumph, and when, 
in 1866, he was nominated as a candidate for Congress, by a 
People’s and Soldiers’ Convention, its action was so unanimously 
approved that his election was conceded. 

The Erie Dispatch, (at that time professedly neutral, but very 
radical in its leanings) one of the very ablest papers in the 
country, and edited by an accomplished gentleman, whose high 
sense of editorial honor and sterling independence of character— 
to the disgrace of the party of which he is one of the few sincere 
and incorruptible adherents of eminence—have alone prevented 
suitable recognition of his merit, referred to the nomination in 
the following unqualified terms of approval : 

“All parties agree that Col. Dan Rice would he the right man 
in the right place, if sent to Congress , because he is politically sound, 
and also one of'the most unobjectionable men in the State to -fill 
any position within the gift of the people. Entirely void, of party 
prejudice, and possessing a strong, vigorous native intellect, cultiva¬ 
ted rather by the study of men than books—an excellent guarantee 
for the sound practical character of his statesmanship—and under¬ 
standing thoroughly, as he unquestionably must, the necessities and 


21 


wants of the whole people ; if elected to represent us he will prove 
one of the most faithful engineers of the governmental machinery 
ever sent to Congi'ess. The intrigues of parties and cliques, the 
corrupting influences which often surround and control those who 
represent us in the halls of legislation, will fail to affect Dan Rice, 
whose name is synonomous of all that is honorable, patriotic, char¬ 
itable, and morally worthy.” 

Such an impartial eulogy, from a journal chary of compliment 
to even its own particular political friends, is more creditable to 
the recipient, and ought to have more weight with the public 
than all the combined encomiums of a venal, or partial party 
press. 

Col. Rice accepted this Congressional nomination, but subse¬ 
quently withdrew his name for personal reasons of which we are 
not informed, and which are irrelevant in this connection. 

And as Col. Rice was among the first to anticipate Rebellion, 
and, when it was precipitated upon the country to contribute his 
influence and means for its suppression; so lie was foremost to 
perceive the evils, wrongs, necessities and errors to which it has 
given birth, and to suggest and publicly declare those remedies 
Democrats and Conservatives now propose to apply, and upon 
the presumed or pretended recent discovery of which others 
plume themselves and prefer their claims for highest recognition. 

As early as the Summer of 1865 he proclaimed everywhere 
that the existing system of unequal, burdensome and discrimin¬ 
ating taxation, by which the rich were made richer, and the poor, 
poorer ; which added the hours of the laborer to the substance 
of the bond-holder, would, if persisted in, result in ruinous de¬ 
pression, and perhaps repudiation. His assertion that “ the men 
who had the most money ought to pay the most taxes, and that sol¬ 
dier s, particularly those wounded' in the service, should have office 
in preference to men who never shot a gun or spent a dollar in 
defense of their country was at once an axiom and a telling re¬ 
buke to the loud-mouthed, stay-at-home, radical patriots, prodi¬ 
gal in promises to volunteers, but careful, whij^ they gave others 
their “ belly-full of fighting,” to keep their own belly-full of of¬ 
ficial pap. He never claimed it as an apothegm, but if others 
do, they ought, at least, to give him credit for it. 

Less than a year later, the feverish beat of the public pulse 
admonished him that another cause of monetary irritation 
ought to be removed, and he then declared, in the arena, that all 
distinction between the bond holders and the other creditors of 
the government must be abolished, except in cases where the 
agreement was so positively express as to admit of but one con¬ 
struction. In since attempting to go beyond this some adoptive 


22 


statesmen have overreached themselves, and greatly endangered 
the prospects of the Democratic party by subjecting it to the sus¬ 
picion of favoring repudiation, a monstrous and fatal remedy ; 
Col. Rice has ever denounced as a thousand times worse than 
the disease of debt, to which its application is, if not purposely, 
practically intended by these gentleman. 

His Washington letter of a year ago on the condition of the 
South, published at the request of prominent members of Con¬ 
gress, foreshadowed the failure of the Radical scheme of recon¬ 
struction, which has since become a fact, and evoked howls of 
denunciation from the organs of the destructionists. 

We might continue and expatiate upon the record thus briefly 
referred to, and demonstrate that in various other ways he has 
led the van of practical suggestion, and, with the intuition of a 
born leader and statesman, marked out the path to reunion, and 
national, social, and personal prosperity and happiness, but 
enough has been given to incontrovertibly establish his claims to 
the respect and confidence of the great party whose infallible 
pioneer we have shown him to be. 

And let it be remembered that Col. Rice is no apostate convert 
to Democracy, but that he has ever been a true National Democrat 
in the broadest sense of the word, steadfastly keeping the faith 
through good and evil report, and for years boldly, eloquently 
and effectively proclaiming it throughout the length and breadth 
of the land ; sacrificing pecuniary interests to a high and en¬ 
lightened sense of duty ; scorning to hold his peace at the dictates 
of personal interest; denouncing corruption, exposing frauds, 
defying the strong, protecting the weak, restraining capital, 
upholding labor, rebuking bigotry, exposing sectional heresies ; 
fearlessly championing the rights of the many against the wrongs 
of the favored few, and marshaling the masses under the glorious 
and spotless oriflamme of the Democracy of our fathers. 

The Radicals, as their Clerk of the Senate well knows, sought 
to purchase his silence, or secure his influence, by the offer of 
large pecuniary buibes and liberal promises of preferment, which 
he peremptorily refused; nobly preferring to, unrewarded, serve 
the people and the real party of the people, from which he has 
neither asked, desired, nor expected the recompense of office. 

Finally, few of all our politicians have done more, if as much, 
toward producing the late great reaction in popular sentiment at 
the North. Daily and nightly, before immense audiences, he 
entered his powerful protest against the usurpations of Radical¬ 
ism, and his eloquence, wit, trenchant sarcasm, and unanswerable 
arguments went straight home to the hearts and understanding 
of the people, planting the germ of conservative triumph at the 


23 


polls. Many of the Ohio journals positively declared that the 
defeat of the negro suffrage amendment to the Constitution of 
that State, was more attributable to his efforts during the few 
weeks preceding the campaign than to any other cause ; instancing 
in proof of the assertion the fact that he had spoken against the 
measure to more than half a million persons. The vindictive 
personal abuse heaped upon him by the entire Radical press of 
the State, evidenced that they too credited him largely with the 
overthrow of their party. 

And what have the labor-created nobility of dollars, the fanati¬ 
cal apostles of impossible and destructive dogmas, the professional 
politicians and place hunters—what has anyone to oppose to this 
life evidence of signal ability combined with directness, good 
faith and moral probity, which are of more value in a public sta¬ 
tion than intellectual gifts; to the testimony of the “Giant” of 
Democracy; of Presidents and of a disinterested Press; to this 
well-nigh matchless and yet most incomplete record of pure patri¬ 
otism, loyalty to the people, gratitude to the soldier, devotion to 
the country and self-sacrificing service to the Democratic cause ? 
Nothing! absolutely nothing, save the mere accident of a calling, 
intrinsically as unobjectionable as any other, which poverty first* 
thrust upon him, and for the abuse of which he is in no wise re¬ 
sponsible and has been foremost to denounce and correct; which 
his genius and wit have individualized, and made a delightful, 
instructive and harmless contributor to the necessity for public 
amusement; from the proceeds of which he has, during the past 
twenty odd years, donated the princely sum of over a million and 
a half of dollars for the erection of churches and public schools, 
the advancements of the arts and sciences, and the alleviation of 
misery and want; and which he has, without recompense and to 
his own great detriment, made a most potent means to the end of 
disseminating liberal Democratic doctrines and advancing the in¬ 
terests of their worthy exponents. If there are temptations in 
his profession, the more credit to him for having triumphed over 
them; if there are evils, the more honor to him for having trans¬ 
formed them into fruitful blessings ! 

Shame ! shame ! ! upon those who stealing his thunder, accept¬ 
ing his assistance, and taught a useful lesson by his example, 
would raise so ungenerous and utterly anti-Democratic an objec¬ 
tion against him. Whisper it not in the churches he has built lest 
haply Christianity and charity forget themselves ! Announce it 
not in the schools he has founded lest Learning should denounce 
them! Tell it not to his friends, the workingmen, lest they 
turn upon and rend them ! Proclaim it not to those who have 
eaten his bread lest the widows and orphans curse them ! 


24 


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





oTHfoSo 


Fellow Democrats, to whom in National Convention will 
be confided the weighty responsibility of designating our candi¬ 
dates, in thus exercising the right of petition and suggestion we 
earnestly beseech you to believe that we are prompted by neither 
arrogance, officiousness, egotism, impertinence nor self-interest, but 
by a high sense of our duty as American citizens, and a humble 
desire to faithfully, frankly and impartially discharge it. If on 
the one hand we have felt compelled by the requirements of the 
situation, and through motives of sound policy, to unfavorably 
consider the claims of candidates whose nomination will be strongly * 
pressed upon you, on the other the same requirements and motives 
have alone influenced us in presenting for your consideration the 
name of Col. Dan Rice. If we have adversely criticised them, 
we have not attempted to eulogize him at their expense, or per¬ 
mitted ourselves to be betrayed by partiality into undeserved com¬ 
pliment or misstatement of facts. 

Any other person, as free from the insurmountable objections 
we have as succinctly as possible enumerated, or as happily com- » 
billing, as we have stated our reasons for believing he does, those 
qualifications and elements of popular strength, indispensable 
prerequisites to an election, would be equally acceptable to us; 

' and it is because we know of none other, that we have suggested 
him for whom a powerful party of the people has already ex¬ 
pressed a preference. 

It is the triumph of the principle, and not the elevation of the 
man, that we have at heart. If you can find his peer in ability 
and availability; one whose name will harmonize conflicting party 
views and bring the requisite number of votes to the ticket, nomi¬ 
nate him if you prefer him, and we will be the first to gratefully 
recognize the wisdom of your choice. But do not—we implore 
you, do not permit the chicanery of demagogues, the specious ap¬ 
peals of politicians, the partiality for friends, or even the unwar¬ 
rantable previous instructions of Conventions, to make you for a 
moment lose sight of the fact that upon your nominating such a 
man depends not only the vindication of Conservative principles, 
but the very existence of Democratic government! Remember 
that you will not be merely disposers of contending claims, but 
arbiters of a nation’s fate. The task is one from which the wisest 
and bravest might well shrink. May the Tutelar Saint of Co¬ 
lumbia preside over your deliberations and inspire your counsels ! 



